


Loyal as a Dog

by LeeMorrigan



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hacy, Harry would totally be a golden retriever, Macy has awkward moments, Maggie is too cute, Mel is trying to help a friend, Mother's Love, Other, Quilts, Sisterly bonding, saving Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-04-12 14:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19134241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeMorrigan/pseuds/LeeMorrigan
Summary: When Maggie decides to practice a spell and accidentally turns Harry into a dog, it is up to she and Macy to get it taken care of. Preferably before Mel gets back from helping an old friend in NYC. Maggie always wanted a dog, but not like this. At the end, Macy receives a gift from Marisol.





	1. Macy, We Have a Problem

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a joke from a fan about how it would be funny to see how they would react if Harry somehow got turned into a dog. So I ran with it, once I had enough time to write. I haven't actually gotten to see the final couple episodes of the season (I had them spoiled, partly, by a friend - and they are on my DVR, just haven't gotten there yet), so it may or may not be totally canon-compliant.  
> I do not own CHARMED or any of the main (or secondary) characters, I am merely playing in the CW's sandbox for a bit.  
> Trigger Warnings: Descriptions of what it would be like for a human to be stuck as a dog, and a gradual loss of humanity/identity as the dog-traits take over more each day.

Maggie checked her phone again as she waited for the chunk of her potion meant to keep her test subject asleep, took effect. After watching MALEFICENT with Lucy, she had wondered if it would be possible to make a crow or raven shape-shift. So she had lured one and made a potion to ensure it slept through the transformation. Maggie didn’t want to give it some sort of identity crisis, she just wanted to see if she could turn the bird into a puppy for a minute, then turn it back. She had practiced turning a ladybug into a firefly and then back, then moved onto turning a snail into a toad and back.

Looking back at her phone when it chimed, she saw that she had a message from Mel. She pulled it up to read as she stirred dinner and waited for the bird to go from drowsily walking in the little cage, to being asleep.

 _“Will be gone longer than anticipated. Amelie’s little problem turned out to be not-so-little. Surprise, surprise. See you Monday!_ “, it read.

“Well, I guess that means I’m on Macy-sitting duty.”, Maggie quietly muttered to herself as she texted Mel back. Ever since the whole Source thing, Mel and Maggie had been trying to make more of an effort to spend time with Macy, to make her feel more invited and wanted, as well as trying to listen to her more actively so she felt heard.

She heard the bird, whom she had decided to name Mattie, finally succumbed to the potion and fell straight to sleep. Maggie quickly pulled out the Book of Shadows, flipping to her page, she took a deep breath and began the spell. It was important that she have her mind clear and that the first thing she looked at when she opened her eyes was the being whose form she wished to change.

“Maggie?”

Maggie said the final line of the spell as a breeze swept through the open front door, throwing powder from her sleeping potion into her face, and up her nose. Maggie let out a mighty sneeze, then looked up for a Kleenex, only to lock eyes with Harry.

“Oh no.”, she whispered as a golden glow encircled Harry, changing him into something shorter, fluffier, and undeniably too cute. He was now a Golden Retriever. Standing in a puddle of what had been a dapper outfit.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! No! No! NO!”, she cried, repeating it over and over as she flipped through, trying to find the reversal spell. While the spell to turn a being from whatever it was, into something new, was the same for humans, toads, birds, or whales – turning the creature back was not quite so one-spell-fits-all.

After twenty minutes of searching, imploring the book to show her what she needed, Maggie began to truly panic. What if she couldn’t fix this? What if it were permanent? It wasn’t like she could have Harry call up Charity, to bring some old spell, and have Harry back to his human self in a jiffy.

Maggie pulled out her phone. She was going to need backup. At first, she began pulling up Mel, before she remembered. Mel was in New York, taking care of her friend Amelie. She wiped the message and went to a different contact. Macy. Surely Macy could use that giant brain and help Maggie fix this.

“I’m gonna call Macy, Harry.”

He groaned in a way that sounded far too much like the human-Harry, coming from a fluffy golden retriever. The phone rang three times before Macy picked up. Since the whole thing with Galvin and the Source, Macy had taken to having an evening stroll without any of them.

“Macy?”, she nearly shrieked.

“Maggie, what’s wrong? Did someone attack the house? Where’s Harry?”

“Well, um, that’s sort of the problem. I had an accident.”

She heard Macy groan.

“I knew Mel shouldn’t leave you the keys. Who did you hit?”

“No, no. Not that kind of accident. Like a magic accident.”

“Did you turn your hair green again?”

“No, although I rocked it, the Poison Ivy hair isn’t the kind of accident I’m talking about here, Macy. I was practicing, and Harry came in, and I sneezed, and the spell went the wrong way, and the Book isn’t helping, and I can’t believe what I did! What if I can’t fix it? What if it’s permanent? He’ll never forgive me! I’ll never forgive me!”

Macy broke through, finally, as she raised her voice with a strict tone.

“Maggie! What, exactly, did you do? And what happened to Harry?”

Maggie took a deep breath, then it all came out so fast that Macy could hardly understand.

“IturnedHarryintoadogandnowIcan’tfindaspelltofixitsohe’sstuckbeingadogtillIcanfindareversalspell.”

Macy swayed, leaning back against a brick wall by the park where Maggie had been coming to meet Parker to walk the dog.

“So Harry is… a _dog_.”

“A golden retriever. I was trying to turn Mattie into a puppy, and Harry came in, I sneezed, and when I looked up, I accidentally sent the spell to him instead of Mattie.”

“Who is Mattie?”

“Our pet crow.”

“Since when do we have a pet?”

“Well, about half an hour since I turned Harry into Air Bud, but Mattie is a crow that likes to hang out in the back yard and he likes taking my paperclips when I’m working on putting together fliers out there. I practiced the spell and a couple of the reversal spells on smaller critters first. Bugs and snails from the herb garden, so I worked up Mattie, and I accidentally got Harry. Please Macy, Mel is gone, the Book is being no help, Harry can only gruff and bark at me, I need your help!”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s a reversal of curses spell I found a while back, it might work for this. I’ll need some mint and rosemary from the garden. It also calls for some hair from the person in their cursed-state, to complete the spell.”

“How am I supposed to get Harry’s… fur?”

“Just give him a biscuit and then brush him, some should fall out for you to collect.”

“Good thinking! Mel has some bacon wrapped cheddar things in the crisper, I’ll get him one of those.”

“Good idea. See you in ten.”

~*~*~*~*~

Macy let out a long sigh as she looked up at the stars above. She and Maggie had stayed up all night, trying different spells. The closest they came to changing Harry, had been to make him meow instead of bark. Despite the lack of eyebrows, command of the English language, and his usual height, he was still quite skilled at making his displeasure known.

She wished Mel were back. Mel would probably have something from the Sarcona or maybe just something she noticed in one of Harry’s various reference guides he sometimes pulled out, such as when they had to deal with the pixie. Macy had debated calling Mel to let her in on their situation, and opted to keep her sister in the dark for the moment. She would likely fuss at Maggie and worry while she was out in New York, trying to help her old high school friend.

From what Maggie had said, Amelie had been the daughter of a male midwife and his husband, a well-known local artist. Kids at school had made terrible fun of her, yet Mel and Amelie had been thick as thieves, and Mel often got into trouble for smacking or being mean towards the cruel boys who picked at Amelie. When Mel came out, people had joked that Amelie had “caught the gay” from her dads, and even adding that Mel “got it” from Amelie.  Then Amelie got a job working for a non-profit that provided counseling to teens at risk, and over the past couple years she had gladly helped children and teens.

Not for the first time, Macy’s mind wondered. She thought about her father and the secrets that weighed on him her whole life. She thought about having been brought back from the dead, with demon blood no less, and how Maggie had been born of her parents’ love, despite all that had happened between them in the years after they brought Macy back. And she thought of Mel’s losing her mom, finding out about Macy, learning they were witches, losing Niko, losing Jada, the Sarcona, the Elders, Macy’s becoming the Source, learning that she was the odd-sister-out by paternity, and Charity’s betrayal. How Maggie learned her father was Macy’s father rather than Mel’s, having to deal with a power that let her inside the minds of everyone around her, and then nearly losing Parker after finally getting to a place where they were cool.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a cold, wet nose pressed against the back of her arm. She turned to find Harry, now sporting a sort of bow tie and holding a blanket from the couch, gently in his teeth. She took the blanket and put it around her arms.

“Thank you.”, she offered as she reached to scratch behind his ears and rub his head. Maggie stepped out a moment later, unable to look directly at Harry as she spoke.

“I made him a collar and a little bow tie. Helps him look a little more like our Harry, and the neighbors won’t think he’s a stray if they look back here and see him.”

Macy nodded. The first time Maggie mentioned wanting a dog, Macy had looked up the local laws, ordinances, and such. If a dog was outside, without a lease or tether, there had to be a person in the yard with the dog to keep an eye. Fenced or not, it did not matter. And a collar was required at all times.

“Yeah, good. Makes sense.”. Macy said, distractedly.

“Well, I’m going to bed. Maybe something will hit me in the morning, that will work better than what we’ve tried so far.”

Macy nodded, already deep in thought. She was roused slightly by the feeling of Harry settling beside her for a moment. Absentmindedly, her hand began to stroke Harry’s head, ears, neck, and shoulders. His fur was so soft and warm against her chilled fingers. She went through a mental Rolodex, trying to recall any of the spells she had come across, that might help Harry. They needed their Whitelighter back. She needed Harry to be Harry. So did Maggie and Mel. He was more than their guide and protector, he was their friend. He was family, and honorary member of the Vera Vera Vaughn sisterhood, right down to the little paper V that Maggie had made for him and had a place of pride on his desk at the college.

Harry whined, pulling Macy from her thoughts. Looking down, she found that Harry had stood and looked rather distressed. Then it dawned on her.

“Bathroom?”

He gave what looked like a quick, firm nod.

“You’re going to have to use the yard. I’ll turn my back.”

Standing, she did as promised. A moment later, she could feel the warmth of a fuzzy body against her leg. She scratched behind his ears with a smile.

“Alright, lets got to bed. We’ll start fresh in the morning.”

Another decisive nod. Macy smiled down at him.

“I’ll get the door.”

She opened the glass door to let him walk in, yet he insisted on following her in like a proper gentleman. He followed her closely as she fixed herself a small cup of milk with a hint of chocolate in it, then walked with her up the stairs. Harry stopped at the door to her room, giving her a boop on the leg before heading up to his own room. Macy watched until he was at the door, and she telekinetically opened it for him, leaving a crack when she closed it, in case he needed the potty during the night. She would hate to think he had to use a newspaper or something in the attic because he couldn’t teleport to the yard or whine loud enough for she and/or Maggie to hear.

A few minutes later, she had finished her drink and settled in for the night. They had a big day tomorrow. They had to fix Harry. If Mel came back to find him as a dog, she might freak out worse than Maggie was as she hid in her room, unable to face Harry. They had to get this reversed. The spell notes in the Book of Shadows, spelled out the consequences of waiting too long. For a while, the afflicted person would retain their humanity, reasoning, and memories. However, the longer they remained in their altered state, the more that faded and the more like the creature they were cursed into, they would become. Eventually there would be nothing left of the person who had been cursed and they would be entirely the beast they had become.

“We’ll fix this, Harry.”, Macy whispered under her breath.


	2. Losing Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry escapes, Mel returns, and they worry what will happen if Harry remains in a dog form for too long.

Macy woke early, at the tone from her phone, to ready herself for the busy day ahead. She had some ideas she had jotted down over the night and would run past Maggie over breakfast, so they could make their plan of attack of getting Harry back into his usual tall, charming, awkward, British, HUMAN self. Well, Whitelighter, though she supposed on a more genetic sense he would still be classified as Human.

She checked his room, before heading down, just to make sure he was not still there. He might have accidently closed his door and been unable to leave. Once she was sure he was not in his room or upstairs, she headed down to the kitchen only to be greeted by an unexpected sight. Harry, with a new bow-tie, growling at the refrigerator.

“Uh, Harry, why are you growling at the fridge?”

He looked over at her, then tried to move onto his back legs and attempted to open the door himself. Then she realized. Every morning, Harry made breakfast. Tuesday or Sunday, it didn’t matter. Now he was unable.

“It’s alright, Harry. I’ve got breakfast this morning.”

He gave her what looked an awful lot like a resigned nod, before he moved to sit in his preferred chair and landed on his shoulder on the floor before Macy could stop him. A small moan escaped his jowls before he walked off towards the French doors to the back yard. Macy used her telekinesis to start breakfast as she walked out with Harry. He walked a bit before giving her a Look. She turned her back and could hear him doing his business. She was glad he did not have a bashful bladder.

As they came back in, Maggie was heading down the stairs with another book in her hands. Macy did not recognize the book, though she was familiar with the determined look on her little sister’s face.

“I’ve got it!”

“What do we need?”

“I’ve already got everything. I just need you and Harry, and we have to wait until the sun is in position. So like…”, Maggie checked her phone, “about two hours from now.”

“Alright, well in that case let’s do breakfast. Harry hasn’t had anything since he was still on two legs.”

Maggie’s face contorted to guilt.

“I’m so sorry, Harry.”

He made a noise that sounded enough like, “Do not worry” that they understood him. Everyone moved to the kitchen for Macy to finish breakfast, before they went to the table. This time, Macy helped Harry with sitting in the chair and placed a plate in front of him as well as a bowl with some Earl Gray tea in it, then put the bowl with Maggie’s breakfast in front of her, before getting her own breakfast to have.

~^~^~^~^~^~

Maggie was still shaking, and Macy was chanting a spell to try to find Harry. Halfway through Maggie’s latest attempt to return Harry to his true form, they had been interrupted. A fairy who needed their help, had arrived to inquire if the Charmed Ones could do her a huge favor. When they came back from explaining that Mel was out of town and was not expected back for another day or two, they found the back gate open and Harry missing. That had been two hours ago.

Maggie had gone one direction, Macy the other, and they made circles around the block and surrounding blocks, attempting to find Harry. When Maggie thought she had spotted him at the park where she sometimes walked with Parker and his puppy, Macy had come to meet her. Neither of them were having any luck and they feared what would happen if Harry were picked up either by the dog catcher or some ill-willed person.

“This is all my fault. I should have locked up that powder, so I didn’t sneeze and turn Harry into a pooch.”

“We’ll find him, Maggie. We have to.”

They searched for another half hour, ending up contacting Parker and another friend of his from the fraternity, to come search for Harry. Parker, of course, knew it was Harry Greenwood, but the friend knew only that Maggie had been dog-sitting and had the dog run away at the sound of a backfire. Just as they were about to call all the local shelters, pounds, and animal hospitals in the area, they heard a barking.

Macy took off before Parker, Maggie, or their new friend, Rashim, could catch her. Running over a hill and down to a little fountain, she stopped at seeing Harry, sitting on the edge of the pond, sniffing the air. Maggie watched as Macy ran the rest of the way and over to Harry, stopping just shy of him in order to reach out, gently rubbing her hand down his shoulder.

“We’ve been looking all over for you.”

He made a noise that sounded very sad. Macy’s face was hidden from Maggie, but Maggie could tell how Macy felt at the moment without being able to look right at her face.

“Maggie?”

She turned to Parker as he offered her a small smile.

“Any word on getting that issue, changed back?”

She shook her head.  Parker nodded, a bit of hair falling into his forehead.

“If you guys need anything, don’t hesitate, alright?”

She nodded, reaching to hold his hand as Rashim grinned over at them.

“Well, she found the dog. We should head back, order some pizza, and take the win.”

“I agree.”, Maggie answered.

~^~^~^~^~

When Mel came home, she found that all the lights in the downstairs were still on, yet none in the bedrooms. Not even Harry’s room, which was unusual given the time. He should have been grading at the moment. And Maggie would probably be out with Lucy again, or Parker and his puppy. She just hoped Macy wasn’t walking alone, self-isolating again.

Nothing could have prepared Mel for what she opened the door to find. Maggie was sound asleep in the kitchen with her nose down in a large tome the likes of which would put Tolstoy to shame. Macy was sound asleep as well, over on the sofa with a large golden retriever laying across her lap, his eyes on the door, and tail wagging. She was not sure where the dog came from or why it wasn’t going nuts at her arrival, as a dog should at some stranger coming in.

As she came further into the kitchen, prepared to stop time in order to be able to run from the dog if it changed tack, she noticed Maggie stir. Then her head came up and two sleepy brown eyes looked back at Mel. Judging by the smudged makeup and the puffiness under Maggie’s eyes, it appeared Mel had missed a lot while she had been gone for the past five days.

“What happened?”, she quietly asked the youngest Charmed One.

“I accidentally turned Harry into a dog. Macy and Parker have been helping me try to find a way to un-spell him back to being our Harry. We’ve been reading and re-reading every book we’ve got, including raiding Harry’s library upstairs. I never realized how much he was into Buddhist philosophy and greenhouse architecture.”

“So you… turned Harry into a… dog?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think this warranted calling me?”

“I had Macy, and we had all the books, and with all that was going on with Amalie… we thought you were juggling enough, plus you were coming back tomorrow.”

“He’s been a dog for a week, I think that is big enough to let me know.”

“He’s only been a dog for a little under four days.”

“ _Maggie_.”

“I know, I know. I should have called and told you.”

Mel settled into a seat beside her sister, seeing how miserable Maggie looked.

“How’s he holding up?”

“Every day, Macy notices he acts more like a dog and… less like Harry.”

“We better get him fixed fast, then.’

Maggie turned, her eyes wide.

“Not that kind of fixed!”, Mel said as she shoved Maggie’s shoulder.

“Come on, I’ve got a couple more books under my bed.”

They passed where Harry was still laying with his head on Macy’s lap as she slept, her one hand resting over his heart, the other seemingly frozen where she had been scratching between his ears when she fell asleep. Once they were upstairs and safely ensconced within the confines of Mel’s room, she turned to Maggie.

“How long as he been cuddling up to Macy?”

“What?”

“You said the longer he’s not-Harry, the less like Harry he’ll act. How long as he been all cuddly with her? You know after the whole Source nightmare, he has been a bit, shy? With her.”

“Oh.”, Maggie considered.

“Yesterday, I noticed him resting his head on her forearm when I came into the living room. And instead of booping her to go outside to pee, he rubs his head against her leg, and he doesn’t seem so shy about her standing there. Macy turns, but out of her desire to shield his privacy, not because he is refusing to go until he has privacy, the way he did the first two days.”

“Then we need to fix this, ASAP. Sometimes that doesn’t all come back when you bring something or someone back, from what I’ve read.”

“Are you saying Harry’s gonna scratch himself and boop people when he goes back to being a guy?”

Mel let out a sigh as she looked up from her bed, a book open on her lap.

“It’s possible.”

“Then yeah, we need to fix this. Now.”

Maggie sat down, taking a second book and beginning to look for anything helpful in that one. They needed some help, and soon. They need their Harry back.

“When I used to ask mom for a dog, this is NOT what I had in mind.”, Mel muttered, earning a small smile from Maggie.

“Remember when we asked her if we could have a puppy for Christmas? She kept pointing out that I left my nail polish bottles out all the time and that you always left the back door open, so we weren’t ready.”

“Well, she wasn’t wrong.”

“We lost Harry.”

“WHAT?”

Maggie looked guilty.

“Someone came looking for some help from the Charmed Ones, and Harry got out where the gate was open. Took us almost all afternoon, plus calling Parker and his one former roommate, to come help us, before we found him. Then he just trotted off back to the house with Macy. From what little I could get off of him, he got confused cause he didn’t recognize things with the doggie-senses he has now, but the human memories of what things looked, smelled, and sounded like.”

Mel turned to Maggie, a bit intrigued.

“You can read Harry’s thoughts?”

“They get less clear every day. At first, it was just like reading him normally was, just smaller words, I guess. Now, more like impressions than full thoughts. I stopped petting him last night, it was too sad.”

“Does Macy know?”

“I think she’s figured it out and isn’t ready to admit it.”

Both sisters continued with their search. The sooner they found a spell to reverse Harry’s transformation, the sooner they would have their Whitelighter back and the less likely they were to have him in human form, yet acting like a dog. He was not just their Whitelighter, he was family. 


	3. Marisol's Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's return to form comes from an unexpected source. Harry gets to visit someone he has not spoken to for years, Mel gets a blast from the past. Harry passes along a gift from Marisol to Macy, allowing Macy some insight into her sisters, her mother, and herself, when she needs it most. Also has dreams Macy has of a possible future, for she and her sisters. Lots of motherly love from Marisol, as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Characters dealing with grief, particularly nightmares and the smells left in rooms/on clothes/etc. after a person has passed.

Macy stood out in the back, letting Harry get some exercise, as Mel and Maggie poured through the last two books Mel had been reading up in her room lately. If the answer wasn’t in one of those two tomes, they were lost. Harry would be a dog forever. Maggie wanted to cry, scream, hug Harry, and throw things. Letting out a slow breath, she looked up to see Mel making a couple notes on her phone as she read.

“Anything?”

“Maybe. This makes a reference to another spell. You?”

“I need caffeine or I’m going to be trying to read through blurs.”

“Grab me one.”

Maggie nodded, already moving back into the kitchen from where they had the bulk of the living room covered in open books and parchments. Sometimes Maggie wondered how her mom had kept all this tucked away so that they never even thought to question if she were a witch.

She had just started to grab some cups when there was a knock at the door. Turning, she looked back at Mel. Mel shrugged. Maggie went to the door, Mel right behind her as they went to the door. Maggie checked, and it seemed to be one person so she opened the door. There stood a beautiful woman, tall, with a somewhat regal posture. She reminded Maggie of noblewomen in her history books.

There was something vaguely familiar about her. Maggie could not place her face. Early 40s, deeply bronzed skin with brightly painted fingernails, makeup that almost looked as if she weren’t wearing any, large onyx eyes, and a friendliness about her round face that held her age well. In fact, Maggie wondered if the woman might actually be 1,000 years old and only look 40 because of the posture and the very faint lines at the corners of her eyes.

“Can we help you?”, Mel asked as Maggie tried to reach out a bit to get an impression off the woman.

“No.”, she answered with a soft but deeper voice for a woman. The smokiness of her voice seemed odd juxtaposed with her Coldwater Creek attire.

“However,” the woman started, “I think I may be able to help you.”

Maggie reached further, but got nothing. The woman’s dark eyes turned to her, reminding Maggie of a raven. Clever and penetrative.

“You will not be able to read my thoughts, Maggie. Your mother taught me to shield my mind a long time ago. My name is Jane Neema.”

Mel could not believe it. Moving forward, she took Jane’s offered hand and instead hugged the taller woman.

“June! Whatever happened to you?”

Stepping back, Mel looked the woman up and down again. She had changed very little since Mel had last seen her, shortly before Maggie’s first birthday.

“I ran afoul of some people who… did not care for my brand of magic.”

“The Elders?”, Mel questioned.

“No.”, Jane smiled.

“The kind of people Marisol once would have helped me fight and obliterate until she had to worry about two children and a couple prophecies of hers. Before I left, she gave me something and she told me that in the future, I would need to bring it to her daughters.”

“Come in, please?”, Mel offered as she stood back.

“Yes, please? You were one of mom’s best friends.”

“Thank you. I won’t be here long. I’m still not entirely free of those I left to escape. But here.”, she handed Maggie a folded piece of paper with their mother’s handwriting spelling out their names. All three of them.

“She put Macy’s name on it!”, Maggie exclaimed as she held the note for Mel to see.

Mel looked at it, then up at Jane.

“Did you know about Macy?”

Jane nodded.

“You never mentioned her.”

“Not when there were little ears in the room, no. Giving her up nearly killed Marisol. I tried not to bring it up or in any way reference it. I did not wish to harm her any further.”

There was a pause.

“Is Macy here?”

“Yes.”, both sisters answered.

“Good. She’s safer with you both. Well, my errand is done. Marisol didn’t say to do it, but I scribbled my contact information onto the one back corner. If you should have a need, I’m around. I may not be able to get here in a matter of minutes, but I promise if you call, I will get here.”

With that, she stepped back off the doorstep and out onto the porch. She smiled, a bit watery in the eyes as she looked back at them.

“You both grew up to be so beautiful. And I know Marisol is proud of all her girls, tell Macy. Marisol would love that the three of you are working together, Charmed or not. That was all she ever wanted for you.”

Jane turned and walked off, leaving the sisters standing mute at the door until Maggie took off to the top of the stairs, to call out after their former sitter.

“Wait!”

Jane stopped, then turned to face Maggie.

“How did you know we’d need this, now?”

Jane smiled a knowing smile.

“I didn’t, exactly. Marisol knew you would have need of that spell, and she knew that I could always tell when someone I had once cared for, was in need. When I woke this morning, I just knew I had to get to you. I figured this was the Sign Marisol knew about and warned me of.”

Having said her piece, Jane once more turned away and strolled down the street. Maggie watched her for a moment before turning back to Mel and unfolding the paper. Inside, a simple spell waited.

_For what was made wrong-_

_Make right again._

_For what was done wrong-_

_Make undone._

_Return to form that which was reformed-_

_Return to form true and remembered._

“That’s it?”, Mel questioned.

“I guess?”

“Alright, let’s go. We gotta get Macy and Harry upstairs. I’ll draw the circle, you grab the candles.”

“Done.”

“Wait!”, Mel said, stopping Maggie in her tracks.                                                       

“What?”

“Mom has a small note here, at the bottom.”

Both read it in silence. Then they both let out a groan.

“Dawn? Really?”

“Well, it is a transformative time.”, Mel reasoned.

“New plan. I’ll go prep, you go tell Macy.”

“Rock Paper Scissors.”

“No.”

“I don’t want to tell her.”, Mel almost shouted.

Maggie shushed her with a gesture.                                                         

“Fine. Fine. On three.”

Both counted out to three before showing their hand. Maggie grinned, holding her hand flat as Mel held hers fisted.

“I win, you go tell Macy.”

“Best out of three?”

“Since when have you won even one out of three?”

“Never, you telepath.”

“I don’t need to be a telepath to know you well enough to guess which you’ll pick.”

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Macy lay in her bed, the windows open to allow the breeze in as she readied her hair for bed. They had a big day tomorrow. A small whine interrupted her thoughts as she considered the steps for tomorrow’s spell. She turned to find Harry laid out across her bed, his head tilted as he let out another whine.

“What’s wrong?”

He made another plaintiff noise.

“Are you too warm again?”

Another noise. Macy used her powers and turned the little fan on, by the one window. It blew across her bed as it oscillated back and forth. She then returned to getting ready for bed. Harry’s noises stopped and when she checked in her mirror, he was staring directly back at her. Despite the change in his face and his eyes now being puppy-brown instead of the ocean blue she was accustomed to, there was something definitely human remaining there. Something familiar.

Once she was ready, she moved to her bed and covered with only a light blanket. She couldn’t sleep unless she had at least a thin sheet over her legs. Her father used to tell her that she thought it was a shield against the monsters under the bed, as he apparently had thought in childhood. Macy was aware it was because the body was aware that it’s ability to regulate temperature went offline at a certain point in sleep, so the body sought to be covered before slumber in order to assure there was something to keep the body warm in the dark, chilly nighttime, when that suspicion of thermogenesis would hit.

On prior nights, Harry had left her bed once she got in it, and he would then go lay on the makeshift bed in the corner, with his face to the door and his back to Macy. So much like he had been as a human, protective and always just there. Tonight, rather than escape to his own room or to sleep on the little bed Maggie had whipped up for him, Harry settled into the space where Galvin would once have been. The spot reserved for a lover or spouse. His back to Macy, yet close enough for her to easily reach out and wrap her arm around him. She did just that. He wagged his tail and turned his head as only dogs could do, and let his tongue fall out as he looked excitedly at her. The human look was gone for the moment and he looked entirely like a dog.

“I’m so, so sorry Harry. Sorry that we couldn’t change you back sooner, sorry that we didn’t get that note from Marisol, sorry that I wasn’t home to stop Maggie from experimenting like that.”

He licked her face and nudged her with his snout, his look a bit more like Harry and less like a puppy. She rubbed behind his one ear.

“We’ll fix you. Come dawn, you’ll go back to being our Harry. I promise.”

He leaned in closer, letting his head lay on her arm for a moment before straightening back out and laying with his head on the second pillow and his back to Macy. A moment later, she heard a deep sigh. He was relaxing. Macy smiled, doing her best to keep her fears to herself. She worried they had let it go too long. That tomorrow, whatever he might look like, the mind and behavior would be that of a dog. Not the clever, kind, insightful, intelligent, awkward Whitelighter they all knew and loved.

Macy left her arm around his middle as she allowed her eyes to close and her breathing to even out. She just hoped that, no matter how little connection he might have to who he was, that Harry still knew she was there. Even at her worst, with a needle in her forehead, the darkness running full force in her blood, and encircled as she ripped Fiona’s immortality away, Harry had never left her side. She would not abandon him now.

And that was where Mel found them, shortly before the dawn, as she came to wake her elder sister and her Whitelighter. Macy was snuggled up to Harry’s furry back, her face hidden in his fluff, and Harry’s new doggy eyes watching Mel as she entered the room, a small wag of the last third of his tail being the only greeting. It was sweet, in the moment. Harry had been so shy of Macy lately, not that it could be said he was cold or rude, just that compared to how he had been before – he was more reserved, less likely to touch her. Less likely to be within her easy reach.

“Come on, sleepy heads! We’ve got a spell to work!”, Mel announced loudly enough to wake Macy but not loud enough to wake a neighbor.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”, Macy groaned as she rolled onto her back and stretched.

Mel nodded, then headed out in order to meet Maggie upstairs. Once she was out of the room, Macy turned to look at Harry. He looked back at her with an expression she knew so well when it was in a human face.

“Come on. Let’s get upstairs so we can get you back to yourself.”

Harry walked off excitedly with her as they made their way to the attic space, where Maggie had already set up the candles to do the circle and Mel was finishing up with making sure the sunlight would spill right onto Harry as they said the spell. Macy led Harry to the spot in the middle of the circle and smiled.

“You stay right there.”

He immediately put his butt on the ground and sat perfectly for her, his eyes never leaving her face. Macy went to stand at her point in the triangle that Mel had traced around the circle, which would put the light shining directly into Macy’s face, but between Maggie and Mel, with Harry at the center. Macy smiled at the idea. Harry really had been their center, in so many ways.

“Everybody ready?”, Mel asked.

“Yeah.”, Maggie answered.

“Yes.”, added Macy.

“Then let’s do this.”

With everyone in place and the dawn fast approaching, they began chanting the spell left to them by Marisol. A spell of returning, and for more than just undoing a shape-shifting spell. It could also unwork a good deal of harm done by magical means.

“For what was made wrong- Make it right again. For what was done wrong- Make undone. Return to form that which was reformed- Return to form true and remembered. For what was made wrong- Make it right again. For what was done wrong- Make undone. Return to form that which was reformed- Return to form true and remembered. For what was made wrong- Make it right again. For what was done wrong- Make undone. Return to form that which was reformed- Return to form true and remembered.”

The sun glowed on Harry, the first light of a new day almost glimmering against his golden fur. The Charmed ones watched, transfixed. First, Harry seemed to lengthen out, almost to the height he was as a human. Then, his dog shoulders broadened and changed shape as his legs all stretched out. His rear paws lengthened, the fur receding from the toes first, then the rest of the foot. His front paws also changed, the toes lengthening out to fingers, the fur fading away to reveal pale skin. His snout almost appeared to melt back into the human face they were accustomed to and his hair returned to the chestnut it had been. As the sun rose high enough to shine past rather than over Harry’s prone form, they heard him take in a breath. He lay there, on the floor, returned to his human appearance but with one reminder of his time as their family pet. The bow-tie dog collar. And nothing else.

“Oh dear.”, Macy said as she spun around to give her back to Harry.

Maggie’s jaw dropped as Mel turned her away, while also looking opposite of Harry. They could hear Harry standing up. Macy grabbed a throw from the nearby sofa and tossed it blindly behind her. Harry seemed to catch it and after a breath, he assured them that it was safe to turn around. Maggie kept her eyes downcast for a couple more seconds, even as she and her sisters turned to face Harry. Mel looked up to see Harry had wrapped the throw around his waist like a towel. Macy looked everywhere except at Harry and Mel wanted to roll her eyes at both of them, since Harry appeared to be doing much the same with Macy.

“Well?”, Mel asked.

“Well, what?”, Harry asked, his brows furrowed.

“Any urges to chase rabbits or your tail? Maybe you want a milkbone biscuit?”

Harry blinked at her once. Twice.

“I assure you, Mel, I am in as much need of a Milkbone biscuit as I am another hole in my head. Although some biscuits and tea sounds like Heaven.”

“Alright.  Then we’ll go down and get breakfast started and you can… get dressed and… yeah. Let’s go.”, Mel ordered her sisters as she semi-ushered them towards the door. Maggie stopped though, just shy of the door, and went running towards Harry. Crashing into him, she hugged him like a baby Koala who just found their lost mother. Harry awkwardly hugged her back with one arm, the other left clasping the front of his makeshift toga to ensure he did not flash his charges.

“I’m so glad you’re back, Harry! And I’m so sorry I did this to you.”

His face softened as he rubbed her back with one hand, leaning his head to place a quick kiss to her crown.

“It’s just a hazard of my occupation. And thank you, for bringing me back.”

She smiled, a little teary-eyed as she stepped back. Harry rubbed her shoulder with one hand, still smiling at her. Mel walked over, giving him a one-armed hug quickly before tugging Maggie along.

“Welcome back, Harry.”, she said as she gave him a wink.

“We’ll let you get dressed.”

Macy, still at the door, let out a slow breath as she attempted not to let her own tears fall. She had been so worried that he wouldn’t be Harry. And in the days to come, he might still show them that he was not one-hundred percent him, and might have been allowed to stay a dog for too long. For now, Macy was just glad that when she looked into his eyes, he was Harry. Human. Whitelighter. Friend. Harry. And now he was standing there, in a blanket, still making sure the three of them were alright instead of getting upset at what had happened or how long it he had been left in such a state.

“Thank you all, for getting me back.”

Macy nodded.

“Always, Harry.”

The three of them left, giving Harry the privacy to get dressed and decompress. Macy moved to making Harry’s favorite tea while Mel began cooking up the meat for a favorite sandwich of Harry’s, and Maggie went out to grab some fresh fruit and chop it up for him to have on the side. They intended to spoil him a little.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Harry adjusted his tie for the fourth time since getting out of the taxi. Due to not-wishing to cause any issues or worry about his powers at the home of a powerful witch, he had not orbed within five blocks of the house. He had orbed to June’s new hometown, then he took a taxi from the library to her home, with instructions for the taxi to wait ten minutes. Harry paid in advance. Now or never, he reasoned as he stood before the door, raising his hand to knock.

Three quick knocks, a customary one for strangers and near-strangers. A professional knock. It only took a minute for the door to open to reveal Jane Neema. Marisol’s friend, former favorite babysitter of the whole town, and a one-time interior design major. Of course, that was all before she got into the feud with some very nasty fellows, and was forced to flee for her life.

From the look on her face, still youthful and wise, she remembered Harry. At least slightly. They had met once, when he was assigned to protect someone else for a short time while their regular Whitelighter was recovering from a terrible battle with a horde of demons.  The woman he was protecting, temporarily, had been getting some help from Marisol and June in filling the gaps in her training.

“Harry.”

He gave a nod.

“June.”

“Glad to see the girls got you sorted.”

“They did.”

  
“Can you wait here for a minute?”

  
Harry nodded. The moment she had opened the door, he could feel the shift in a protective warding. Just as he had suspected. Only those with an expressed invitation could enter. Not a fireman, Whitelighter, or cat could enter June’s home if they were not properly invited.

June closed the door and walked away. A moment later, she returned with a box in her hands. It was wrapped, the lid and bottom each separately, with a silver ribbon tied around it to keep the two pieces together. The wrapping paper was beautiful, a metallic type that had a pattern Harry thought looked like a stained-glass window, in shades of blue, green, teal, and black.

“This is for Macy. When Marisol left me the spell, she left me this with some similar instructions. The spell was to go to Mel and Maggie, and Macy if she was present. But this… This she wanted me to hold onto until their Whitelighter came calling.”

“Why not just give it to Macy?”

June smiled.

“Marisol and her gift of Foresight.”

Harry nodded.

“Instructions are instructions.”

“Exactly.”, June answered.

“I’ll take it back to Macy.”

“Just so you don’t get paranoid or such, it won’t harm her. It is a handmade gift from Marisol. Something she did for all three of her girls, though she never got to give Macy hers in person.”

June looked upset, tilting her head as she worked to regain the tight control over her emotions.

“I promised her that if her girls needed me, I’d come. As much as she helped me, even when she was risking her whole household to do it, I owe her that much. Obviously, you can’t come in. But I left my contact information on the note with the spell. If they have a need, the girls know how to get ahold of me.”

Harry was a bit taken aback. He had not expected the conversation to go this way.

“Thank you. I’m sure… There are things a male Whitelighter cannot teach three powerful, female witches. There may yet be things they will seek you out for that they will not seek me out for.”

She smiled.

“True. I know my gift, while similar to Marisol’s, is not the same. But with Macy, I sense that… there is a conflict there. Something buried within her causes her heartache and confusion. Be careful with her, Harry. She’s more powerful than she knows, and more broken than she appears.”

None of that was new to him.

“I know.”

June regarded him for a moment, a slow smile forming as her eyes took on an insightful gleam.

“I see. You’ll help each other get this sorted out, I’m sure.”

With a last nod, she stepped back, closing the door. Harry stood there with the present in his hands and more questions spinning through his mind. He was a bit lost in thought until he heard a horn honking. Turning, he saw his driver leaning out the window.

“You got 45 seconds left on the meter before I pull out.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”, he said distractedly as he headed down the stairs and to the taxi.

“Back to the library, please?”

“Sure thing. And, by the way, that gift is definitely a kiss-off. She doesn’t want you back, dude.”

Harry nodded, not exactly thankful for the advice. Part of him wanted to orb right out, and bring the gift to Macy. The responsible part of him remembered that he could orb from the library without witnesses and that Macy was at work right now. As were Maggie and Mel, which was why he was able to sneak out to see June. In the two weeks since he had been returned to his natural form, Mel and Maggie had been practically attached to his hips. Constantly trying to take care of him and double, triple, and quadruple check that he was himself. Macy had been the opposite. She had shied away from him, always with an excuse not to be at the breakfast or dinner table, never home for tea, and always too busy to attend the one meeting a week where she and he were both supposed to be in attendance at the University.

He hoped that, perhaps, he could find a moment when she was not with Mel and/or Maggie, to pass along the gift. This would be something very personal that she would likely prefer to do alone. Maggie was fine breaking down in front of her sisters, Harry, and some of her friends. Mel had learned to open up to more than just Maggie, of late. Macy, however, still tried to hold her composure even with her sisters at times. He supposed growing up so alone, as an only child and with her being sent off to school, then entering a very competitive, male-dominated, logic-glorifying profession, she had felt she needed to make sure her emotions were kept under tight control.

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

That night, Harry walked through the house checking on everyone. Maggie had left earlier, confessing to Mel quietly enough that she thought Harry couldn’t hear as he prepared tea, that she missed petting a dog so she was going to go to Parker’s so she could borrow his dog for some cuddles and fetch. Mel had smiled, then returned to her online game she was playing with an old friend from high school. Macy had come home early, due to some maintenance at the lab, and was upstairs in her room doing paperwork.

Once Harry had finished the tea, toast, and fruit, he placed everything on a tray and headed up. Mel was too engrossed in her game and chatting in the living room to notice Harry orbing upstairs, to the space in front of Macy’s room. Juggling the tray, he knocked twice. Macy came to the door a moment later, still in her work clothes and shoes. She looked surprised.

“Harry?”

“You’ve been working so hard lately, I thought you deserved a small treat. Tea, toast, jam, and fresh fruit.”

“Oh. Wow. Um, come in.”

She stepped aside to invite him in. Harry brought the tray to a small table and laid it out for them. He then slipped into the familiar routine of fixing their cups and little plates for their tea. Macy sat across from him, a bit of tension still there. Harry hoped, by the time this tea time was over, most of that would have gone.

“How is the overhaul going, at the lab? Have they finally gotten the water fixed?”

“Yes.  Only now, the hot water comes out when you twist the cold nobs and boiling water comes out when you twist the hot water nob. Nigel nearly burned his fingers off the first morning after they turned the water back on. Broke a few glass tubes as well, since he had been holding them to clean them when the scalding water hit his fingers.”

Harry grimaced in sympathy.

“That is painful.”

“Yeah. I threw some ointment on it and tried to keep him calm as we walked him over to the infirmary on campus.  Tiffany put a note on the door, then posted another by each water fountain, sink, and even the emergency eye wash stations. She wanted everybody to be aware that the temperature is off and could be dangerous.”

“Smart.”

“And how goes the Women’s Studies department? Did you hear back about that poetry contest your students submitted work to?”

“I did. Three of them are semi-finalist. We should hear back next month about if any of them were chosen for the final group, which would mean at least publication of their works. If any of them make it to the top ten, they get 1,000 dollar giftcard they can use towards books, fees, or tuition.”

“Or clothes, if it was Maggie.”

Harry chuckled. Though Maggie, not being in Women’s Studies, did not submit a poem. He had to admit it was likely she would not have spent her full winnings on school if she were to receive 1,000 dollar pre-paid giftcard.

They drank their tea for a while, mostly sticking to the subjects involving work, chores around the house, and the surprise birthday party they were planning for Mel. Maggie had originated the idea, though Macy had taken it up a notch by inviting some friends and such that Mel had not seen in a long while. Macy had also opted to do some baking, and Harry was going all-out with the cooking and baking for the occasion. Maggie was doing the decorating and would make drinks.

When Macy began to yawn frequently, apologizing each time as she rubbed at tired eyes, Harry offered to take away the tray of dishes and let her get ready for bed. She thanked him, some of the stiffness of her shoulders now gone. Harry took it as a victory. He left and walked down to the kitchen to put the plates where they belonged and to get the kitchen cleaned up so he could go to bed. Mel was still happily chatting with her friend while losing terribly at their strategy game. Maggie had texted, he saw, to say she would not be home for a while yet as she and Parker had ordered pizza.

Harry got everything taken care of, texted Maggie to have a good time but text when she was leaving (morning or night, he had added) to let them know when she was heading home, and he had left a fresh drink for Mel. She shot him a smile of thanks, before he left and went back upstairs. As he passed Macy’s room, however, he heard something rather worrisome. Crying.

He moved closer to her door and leaned an ear against the wood. Macy was definitely crying. If he were to just go in, she might feel as if he were an eavesdropping creep. Or she might pull on her mask and claim she was watching something on her phone. Another idea popped into Harry’s head. He quickly orbed up to his room, knowing that would make less noise. He found the box from Marisol and then orbed down. He did not feel now was the time to sit and explain where this box had come from, so he planned to skip over that part.

Orbing back down, Harry purposefully walked up to Macy’s door, making enough noise that he was sure she would not be startled so badly when he knocked. When she didn’t answer, he opened the door just a few inches, allowing enough room for him to pass the box sideways through the gap and into Macy’s view.

“Macy, I know now is not a good time, but I’ve recently found something Marisol left for you. A gift for your birthday, a few years back. I think you may want to look at it tonight.  I’m not going to come in, I just wanted you to have it. I’ll leave it here at the door.”

Gently, he laid it down. He retracted his hand and stepped back.

“Goodnight, Macy.”, he quietly added, before shutting the door again.

He walked away loudly enough for her to hear, before orbing back up to his room. Macy waited a moment, before she made herself get up. She had been sitting there, holding the pillow Galvin had once slept on, then Harry-as-a-dog had slept with his head on, and had once been her mother’s pillow. Despite the months she had lived there, the room still had a smell that she assumed must have been her mother’s smell. The pillow, for a few days after Galvin’s stay, had smelled faintly of his aftershave.

Then, she had come home one night to find Maggie had done all the laundry while avoiding Parker. Her pillow smelled of the citrusy detergent Maggie favored. She had cried for a while after that. And since Harry had gotten back to his real form, she had been avoiding sleeping in her bed. She had slept on the sofa downstairs, she had passed out on a cot at work, and even slept a few hours in a study room at the university’s library. Tonight, had been the first night she slept in her own bed and the pillow smelled of Harry. And not even that much like a dog, but the actual Harry. Fine British tea, a crisp aftershave with a vague mintiness to it, the hair product he used to keep his hair as he liked it, and the unique scent of Harry, that was something between the air after a storm and old books.

That smell had opened the floodgates. The night with Galvin, then losing him. Becoming the Source, and all the damage she had done constantly trying to shift and change things, unable to handle the amount of power flowing through her. Taking Fiona’s immortality, Charity’s betrayal, knowing Marisol had given up a chance to be with Maggie and Mel in another reality to give them a shot at saving Macy, and knowing what Harry thought about when he didn’t think Maggie was around to read his mind. She remembered how it felt when she last looked into Galvin’s eyes. She remembered the feeling of thinking her sisters hated her and would be better without her, even thinking of erasing herself from existence. Then they fought for her. Maggie, Mel, and Harry. They all fought for her.

Moving out of the bed, Macy dragged herself to where Harry had left the package. It was beautifully wrapped in paper that looked like a window in an old church, in beautiful sea colors, with a shimmering silver bow tying the wrapped lid to the wrapped bottom. A small note in Marisol’s handwriting, was attached to the ribbon.

“To Macy, for your birthday, love Mom”., she read aloud before placing the box on the bed.

Macy let out a couple slow breaths, trying to calm herself and fight away the blur from her tears and tired eyes, before she reached to begin opening the package. She carefully slid the ribbon off, and then opened the box to reveal a beautiful quilt. The quilt was bursting with color, all sorts of multi-colored shapes and patterns in the different pieces of fabric used to make the patches forming the overall design of the quilt. Every shade of purple, blue, orange, pink, green, red, and yellow with metallic black here and there to help make the colors pop, and all hand stitched. Almost perfectly hand stitched. Then, as Macy looked it over, she spotted a single black corner on the underside of the quilt, with glittering silver and gold thread spelling out a message. She squinted in the faint moonlight shining through her windows, to read the words stitched in that corner. _For Macy, on your 16 th birthday. Sleep well and sweet dreams, my love. – Mom_, it read.

It occurred to Macy, as she held the gift, that both Maggie and Mel had similar items in their rooms. Maggie had a quilt she once mentioned had been a gift from their mom on her sixteenth birthday. Maggie had said that Marisol made one for Mel on her sixteenth birthday, then another for Maggie’s, and at the time Maggie had not understood where that had come from, as their mom was not normally one for quilting or sewing in general. Then, Maggie had added with the softened tones that made it clear she was off down memory lane, whenever she had been upset, did not feel good, couldn’t stop some obsessive thoughts, or was just homesick on a trip she had taken during her senior year of high school, all she had to do was wrap up in that quilt and she felt like their mom was right there, hugging her, and she would then have the best of sleep with the most pleasant dreams.

It was not until that conversation, that it had occurred to Maggie that their mom must have spelled the quilts to give them good dreams, good feelings, and good sleep. Maggie had offered to let Macy borrow the blanket any time she wanted or needed, yet Macy couldn’t. It felt wrong, somehow, to borrow something not only meant as a Sweet Sixteen gift, but also specifically enchanted for the person it had been given to. Maggie had seemed to understand, and did not press the issue. Now, her blanket laid across her bed and she slept under it least one night a week. Usually Sundays.

A couple weeks after Maggie had opened up about her blanket to Macy, Mel had been doing some laundry with Macy and Macy commented on the quilt draped carefully over the back of a chair in Mel’s room. Where Maggie’s quilt had been full of pastel flowers, bright butterflies, and shimmering stars in Maggie’s three favorite colors, the one on Mel’s chair had been done in shades of purple, red, orange, and pink with a few Puerto Rican flags, books, and musical notes covering it. Each a reflection of what Mel and Maggie had been interested in as teenagers.

Mel commented that it had been a gift for her sixteenth birthday, then had gotten an odd look before letting out a chuckle as she shook her head. She had said that she should have figured, after learning their mom was a witch, that the gifts had been enchanted. That her mom used to throw that blanket on her every time she got sick, every time she had nightmares, every time she was feeling down, and it always seemed like she was right as rain a bit too soon. Clearly the blanket had been spelled to kick the butts of germs, to fight off bad feelings, and to keep bad dreams away. That it allowed only pleasant dreams, happy thoughts, and a general feeling of being loved, safe, and warm.

Macy put the box away and brought the quilt back with her. Somehow, it smelled to her like vanilla and lilacs. She inhaled deeply. Once she was settled on the bed, she pulled the blanket over her, almost instantly feeling that well-hugged, well-loved, warm, and safe feeling Mel and Maggie had both described. Macy smiled. If she had ever questioned her mother’s love, she could nolonger do so. Not just because of what Maggie, Mel, and Harry told her about the alternate reality Marisol or what Macy saw in a reality she wove herself, but because of this very real, very well-crafted, hand-made quilt.

Two breaths later, Macy felt that all of her tension was melted out of her and a warmth was settling into her bones. It felt like she could finally breathe again. A few breaths later, she was sound asleep. And dreaming. She was in a green yard, or maybe a park. She couldn’t tell for sure, only that the sunlight was warm, the grass vibrant, and the music cheerful. She was at a wedding.

Looking around, she spotted Mel. They were in matching dresses of pale purple with blue, white, and pink flowers in their hair, corsages, and pinned to the one-shoulder of their Greek-toga styled dresses. Mel was dancing with a taller woman with dark hair and a wide smile. Maggie, radiant in a beautiful white gown that was just funky-stylish enough to have fit the youngest sister, was dancing happily with her new groom to some of the corniest romantic music Macy had heard in an age. Before she knew it, the music changed and her sisters were dragging her out to join them in a terrible imitation of the Electric Slide. Something done, mostly terribly, at every wedding Macy had ever witnessed.

The dream faded away, allowing her to slip to the next one. She and Mel were running around, neither of them ten years old yet, chasing after a toddler Maggie. The ages weren’t quite right, yet Macy felt no reason to question it as they chased Maggie on her chubby little toddler legs, all running through some green trees, the soft grass tickling under their bare feet, giggling happily like all children should. Then, she and Mel using their magic to make acorns and fallen leaves do dances for Maggie’s entertainment, the toddler laughing so hard she fell over.

Again, the dream shifted from the day in the trees with her sisters, to another time. Maggie was sound asleep on her husband’s chest, their daughter happily playing with her daddy’s phone to make it play a game with brightly colored fish. Mel and her dark-haired wife were on a different sofa, quietly talking and occasionally taking sips from each other’s mugs as well as their own flavored hot chocolates, fluffy slipper-covered feet propped on the coffee table. And Macy, sipping some of her favorite tea as two warm arms held her close from behind, a warmth that was only partially the tea, blossoming in her chest. They were a family, expanded from two to three, then to four, and now to seven. Macy had never been happier. This was home. This was her family. And up on the mantle, a picture of Marisol, painted by a friend, so she could stand with all three of her daughters as if they had posed together. The Charmed Ones and their Mother. She was finally home.


End file.
